From love, there is love.
From light, there is light.
From freedom, there is freedom.

"He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love."


Merry Christmas.
God is good, God is love, God is here.
The Creator frees the slaves;
She brings them justice, hope and healing.

Fighting to stop sexual slavery IS "Glamourous"


In her acceptance statement, Somaly said “I don’t know my name, my age, or my parents because I was sold into sex slavery when I was so young. What I am doing is to hope that some day, children and women can live a normal life, like you do, and can smile in my country.”



That evening, deeply moved by Somaly’s work, Queen Latifah and Barbara Walters each pledged to give Somaly’s organization $150,000 US dollars. So far, Somaly’s organization has saved 3,000 girls throughout Southeast Asia.



Read more about Somaly’s organization, AFESIP, www.afesip.org



Vital Voices’ Interview with Somaly Mam



The day after Somaly’s big night, Vital Voices’ Wenchi Yu Perkins interviewed Somaly Mam about her recent work, life, and how she feels about the “glamorous” evening she had the previous day.



Greeted by Somaly in her hotel room in mid-town Manhattan, Somaly exhibited fatigue in her face because of her two-week travel from Cambodia to Europe and the US. “Everyone else is out touring the city but I just want to stay in,” said Somaly, even though this is Somaly's first time in New York.



“I am afraid of seeing people because I am not used to this kind of publicity, glory, and celebrity.” Having received so many awards and so much international recognition for her important work, Somaly still is not used to these parties and celebrations. “I really miss my girls in Cambodia. I feel the happiest being around them. Now I just want to go home and see how they are doing.” “But I understand how important it is for me to travel outside of Cambodia because that’s the only way to receive critical support in order for me to continue my work."



Somaly said just a few months ago, she was so discouraged because her organization, AFESIP, was out of funding and it had been three months that she could not pay her staff a salary. “One of the shelters is closed because we are running out of money.” “I was seriously thinking about giving up. But my daughter said to me, ‘Mummy, please continue AFESIP’ and I just want to work for them.”




So what keeps Somaly going despite all the difficulties at work and in her personal life? “It’s my story” responded Somaly. “Everything I missed as a child, I want to give that to these children.” Somaly’s daughter was recently kidnapped and while she returned home safely, corruption and mafia continues to threaten Somaly and her family’s safety.



When asked about how the Glamour Award is going to impact her work, Somaly simply said “please give awards to other women.” “There are so many great women working in the field in Cambodia but they have not been recognized for their courage and achievements. Please give awards to them, not me.”



Even though Somaly and her organization, AFESIP, has been so successful in saving girls’ lives, she thinks there are still so much room for improvement and so much more to be done. “We need a lot of training to help our staff enhance their professional practice at work. For example, we need to learn how to provide better victim services, how to manage our finance and write good reports to funders, and to market and communicate about our work. We still need a lot of help.”



Somaly’s biography has been published in French in France, Italy, Germany, and Japan. The English version should be available in the UK and the US in early and September 2007 respectively.

Sorry I haven't blogged in forever. I've just been working on some personal stuff and needed to have some healthy distance from the Internet. This may sound hypocritical, and I do apologize, but if you are going trick or treating ( I can't due to SATs two days after) but I think it would be really great if you could just have a quick chat with your neighbors about child sex trafficking while you are at their doors anyways. This to me, seems really convenient to educate and spread the message of abolition and restoration, with maybe some candy on the side! :) It's just a thought and hopefully it can work for some of the readers.

With love & prayer,
E.

This article is an example of how sexual perpetrators get the upper hand. I would put every name of every child sex trafficker on these shirts, but there are too few shirts because of the secrecy and too many names because of the sickest greed imaginable.

University tries to limit anti-rape demonstration
At the University of Maryland, a traditional rape-awareness event is coming under fire.

For the past 17 years, students have participated in a rape awareness program where victims and advocates against sexual violence hang T-shirts along a huge clothesline on campus.
The program allows victims to turn their backs on the crime and have a voice. Some victims also write the names of their assailants on their shirts.

But this year, university lawyers are instructing participants not to write names on shirts to avoid potential lawsuits.


The students say they still plan on hanging the shirts with names on them. One student and a member of the Student Advocates for Education about Rape, Khalifah, says "This is just another way [of] silencing sexual assault victims.

This reminds me of my all-time favorite movie of bad-ass girls, Girls Town. There's a scene where one of the characters scrawls on their high school bathroom wall the name of the guy who raped her, identifying him as a rapist. When she comes back to the wall later, other girls have written down the names of their assailants. There's power in naming. The University of Maryland should support that."

Thank you to the Board of Benevolence for giving Love146 $500.00! Such wonderful acts prove, if there's a will then there's a way.
People DO care and DO want to abolish child sex trafficking and exploitation. You'll be surprised at how many abolitionists you will come across. The struggle for justice is very difficult, but we are not alone in our desire to end slavery. We even had kindred spirits back in the 1800s during the first abolition movement! We are carrying on their legacy and strength, to give strength to those who are enslaved.

Many Thanks!

Love 146

Love 146

...She still had a fight left.

Visit, explore, watch the video;
Be surrounded by Love 146.

"It takes two to speak the truth - one to speak and another to hear."

-Henry David Thoreau (author/abolitionist)

Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the last bits of summer. For this post, I'd like to mention Post Traumatic Stress Disorder just to give some insight as to what survivors of child sex trafficking may be going through. The information I've borrowed is from RAINN.

"Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Submitted by jessicab on Thu, 2006-02-16 16:50.
Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a normal human reaction to an extreme or abnormal situation. Each person has a different threshold for what is perceived as a traumatic event. PTSD is not a rare or unusual occurrence, in fact, many people experience PTSD as a result of a traumatic experience such as rape or sexual assault.
You may be experiencing PTSD if, following an event where you experienced or were confronted with actual or threatened injury or a threat to your physical integrity, you have:

shown symptoms of intense horror, helplessness, or fear
experienced distressing memories of the event (e.g., flashbacks, including nightmares)
regularly avoided things or triggers that remind you of the event (e.g., people, places, things, etc.)
shown significant impairment or distress due to the event
shown at least two symptoms of increased arousal (e.g., sleep difficulties, difficulty concentrating, hyper vigilance, an exaggerated startle response, or irritability or outbursts of anger/rage)
experienced these things for at least a month"

PTSD is only one out of many reactions due to sexual abuse and slavery. Aftercare is so important to treat the symptoms. Please pray that more children find refuge in safehomes and work through the pain they experience.

Abolition & Restoration,
Elizabeth

Yay! The check is in! I sent JFCI the money rasied from The Tempest on Thursday. Giving is the best feeling in the world.

Girls, I am with you. I know you will dance someday. You are in a loving place. Feel my friendship.
I with JFCI and other organizations vow to never let you get sold and hurt ever again.
Feel the sun on your skin. Your body is good; I promise.

I'm representing my school for JFCI's campus coalition! Yay! This is such an honor. I plan to educate my peers and act as an extension for JFCI at all times. For more info. on JFCI's campus coalition, check out their website - www.jfci.org.

Make the links, then brake the chains...

Sometimes there aren't any words to say about the awful reality of child sex trafficking and exploitation. All there is, is the time in which to hope for justice.

Abolition and Restoration.

Hey everyone, Happy August! I get excited when it's a new month :)
Some new news that is important in the restoration aspect of healing the survivors of CSTE (child sex trafficking and exploitation) is that I am helping JFCI with one of their 2007 projects. This project is helping a safehome in India. The mission is to raise enough money to give caregivers housing where they can relax yet still be close enough to the girls in case they are needed. The caregivers are truly these girls' mothers,aunts,sisters as they recover. The caregivers go through an aggressive training program and give so much love and care to the girls through their healing processes. The caregivers truly play every role for these girls- some are survivors of the sex trade themselves.
Raising money for the housing is a huge and caring way to say "thank you" to the women who restore girls who lost so much through degradation and pain. These caregivers give them a voice and the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen.
Thank you.
Abolition & Restoration.

Well, tonight is the last night of fund raising at The Tempest. I'm honestly sad to have it go but I'm glad at what it has become. Hope is wonderful.

Elizabeth

I found a brilliant and beautiful article from an Australian publication, called The Age. The article is about a former sex slave winning her abuse claim! THIS IS RESTORATION.

"But this compensation is vitally important. Relevant compensation can pull victims out the cycle of poverty … give them some status within their community so they can lead a normal life." - The Age

The Beatles' song "Getting Better" is running through my mind. The fundraiser is getting better. More people are actually looking at the display board and buying the concessions.
I just get scared that people have charity burn-out. I know it's a reality; there was Live 8, Concert for Diana, Live Earth broadcasted recently. That's a lot to digest. But if we act and are educated citizens of the world, there won't be as many pleas. And really, the bottom line is do what you can.

Abolition and Restoration.

The fundraiser at The Tempest is a disaster. The more I think about it, the more I feel horrible. At least I know I'm reaching the girls through prayer if it will not work through funds. Please pray for their healing and safety.

This is complete inspiration. Abolition and Restoration.

News: There was a major brothel bust in Rhode Island. The details about the laws surrounding prostitution and such are (sarcasticaly) interestering. Also, it is just a current and eye opening story. This is from JFCI's blog...

Friday, April 27, 2007

Rhode Island's Sex Trade Raises Concerns


The article below was on NPR earlier this week ....



..> Rhode Island's Sex Trade Raises Concerns

April 25, 2007 from Day to Day

ALEX CHADWICK, host: For a good time, call Rhode Island, where it turns out prostitution is legal as long as it happens indoors. This legal quirk made the news recently when federal officials raided 20 brothels across the northeast. But because of state law, they could not charge anyone from Rhode Island. Nancy Cook of member station WRNI has more.

NANCY COOK: Felicia Delgado(ph) is driving through the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She's looking at Payne Park, known for its drinking, drugging and prostitution.

(Soundbite of car horn honking)

Ms. FELICIA DELGADO (Outreach Worker; Former Prostitute): What's up, mommy?

COOK: Delgado is an outreach worker and a former prostitute. Now she helps Rhode Island women get out of the business.

Ms. FELICIA DELGADO (Outreach Worker, Former Prostitute): It's not New York. It's not big, fancy prostitution. Like, I'm used to doing the streets of the Bronx, you know, where it's live, but it's not as lively like that. It's real hidden.

COOK: Prostitution is hidden here because state law only bans streetwalkers. Cities across the state say they're seeing more and more brothels that advertise as massage parlors. The city of Providence has tried to shut down these places with the laws it has, code violations or building inspections, but it hasn't had any luck. Providence Mayor David Cicilline worries that Rhode Island is developing a reputation.

Mayor DAVID CICILLINE (Democrat, Providence, Rhode Island): Rhode Island is becoming more well-known and as a consequence, Rhode Island is becoming a place where people can engage in human trafficking and acts of prostitution and be protected from criminal prosecution.

COOK: A few Rhode Island lawmakers recently proposed legislation that would have made indoor prostitution a crime, but the bill didn't receive much political support. For the second year in a row, legislators have failed to do anything. The state Senate majority leader, Teresa Paiva Weed, says the lawmakers are mostly concerned about massage parlors staffed by illegal immigrants from Korea or Cambodia who are held against their will. Legislators are less concerned about prostitution in general.

State Senator TERESA PAIVA WEED (Democrat, Rhode Island): It was our position last year that simply modifying the prostitution laws did not address the issue of human trafficking. Rather, it in fact made victims twice of the same individuals that we are allegedly trying to protect.

COOK: She says that's because the illegals working in massage parlors could face deportation if they're caught. Massage parlors and spas are overseen by the State Department of Health, but brothels and prostitution aren't regulated. A University of Rhode Island professor, Donna Hughes, says Rhode Island's prostitution laws are too lax.

Professor DONNA HUGHES (University of Rhode Island): In a few counties in Nevada, it is legalized, but along with legalization comes regulation, and in Rhode Island, there's no regulations or oversight of it at all.

COOK: The brothels have managed to stay out of the public glare. Providence legislator Edith Ajello says this is because Rhode Islanders traditionally haven't seen prostitution as a crime.

Ms. EDITH AJELLO (Legislator, Providence): There are people who live in Rhode Island and have lived in Rhode Island who've thought that what happens behind closed doors between consenting adults was none of our business as long as there was no victim. I think many people have seen indoor prostitution as a victimless crime.

COOK: There's no doubt that locals are making money off the sex trade. Providence's alternative weekly newspaper rakes in about $20,000 a month in various sex-related advertising. A former Providence mayor rents downtown storefront to a well-known brothel. Bally(ph) Day Spa is right next to a trendy furniture store and a block from city hall.

For NPR News, I'm Nancy Cook in Providence

I believe that we all have a reason to be here on this earth. Some people may never find out why the Creator put them here and so may know just exactly why. And I know that a soul is not put on this earth to be raped for profit. Let us find ways to make sure traffickers are put and kept in jail so that they do not wound any more children, mentally and physically. Children trafficked for sex NEED freedom. It truly hurts to know what madness they endure. Their reason to be here (in general) is to just live and embrace their childhood! How can we as humans let this trade exist? These children are not living at all. At the hands of filthy rich traffickers, they slowly fade away.
Abolition and Restoration,
Elizabeth

-Feel The Word-

Manna* – South Asia
Manna lived with her brother and was beaten by him on several occasions. When she was 14, she decided running away was her best option. Passing through the clutter and scuffle of a train station, a young woman noticed Manna crying and offered to help. She listened to Manna and won her trust, promising a job selling fabric. The woman led Manna to a place to rest and slept beside her that first night, but when Manna woke the woman was gone and another woman warned that her life was no longer her own. She would not sell fabric but her body.


Manna refused her first three customers, but the brothel keeper pulled her hair, punched her and beat her repeatedly until she gave in to the men who had come to rape her. She tried to run away and even begged the men who raped her to rescue her or call the police.


The nightmare continued for two years until another girl whom IJM had rescued led IJM operatives back to rescue more girls hidden in a soundproof dungeon. Manna was one of four young girls rescued from that dark place. She now lives in the freedom of an aftercare home that provides love, safety and schooling where she studies to become a social worker. IJM helped build a case against her brothel keepers. They were both convicted and sentenced in 2004 to five years rigorous imprisonment.


With a smile that filled the room like sunlight Manna said, “I came to prison, but I am not alone. God took me from that place to here. I am requesting to God that like IJM saved me they will save even more. What is impossible for men is possible for God.”


I want to free girls enslaved in brothels!


* In order to protect the individuals IJM serves and those who carry out the work, faces of sex abuse victims and particular IJM investigators have been blurred. To further conceal the identities of victims and safeguard ongoing IJM casework, pseudonyms have been used though the accounts are real. Actual names and casework documentation on file with IJM.

In the words of Angela Shelton, "This is a people problem!" Let's join hearts and voices to speak for those in the the chains of modern-day slavery. No one should be bought and sold!

Abolition and Restoration,
Elizabeth

It's an ugly thing, but the children are beautiful. Give them your light and love!

As I type, there are girls in Cambodia dressed in neon light, with numbers around their necks. I wish child sex trafficking was fictional but it is a pressing and disturbing reality. We have the power to make the traffic a thing of the past. Pray for all the children in bondage and in safehomes. They need you. And I need you to help me and all the marvelous NGOs like Justice for Children International make child sex trafficking history.

This website is absolutely amazing!! Many thanks to International Justice Mission for sponsoring it. Please check it out and get educated!

www.freedomcenter.org/exhibits/invisible/

Information from www.serve-nepal.org:

• Trafficking in human beings is now the fastest-growing business of organized crime. (United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, 2002)

• Globally, the United Nations estimates that trafficking is a 5-7 billion U.S. dollar operation annually. (New U.N. Trafficking Protocol, 2002)

• An estimated one million children (mainly girls) are coerced into the commercial sex trade every year. (http://www.unicef.org/newsline/01pr97.htm)

• The largest number of victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking come from Asia, with over 225,000 victims each year from Southeast Asia and over 150,000 from South Asia. (U.S. State Department, Congressional Research Service Report 98-649 C)

• From Nepal an estimated 5,000 - 12,000 girls are tricked, trafficked and sold to brothels in India, the Middle East and South East Asia every year. (“Resisting Trafficking in Women: Auditing Testimonies and Restoration Approaches”; Kathmandu: Himalayan Human Rights Monitors, 2003.) You don’t need that much detail in your sourcing for this website, as we aren’t providing such detail in the previous sources.

• Over 20% of sexually trafficked Nepali women and children are girls under than 16 years of age. (http://www.cwin-nepal.org/press_room/factsheet/index.htm)

• The majority of girls trafficked are told that they will receive good employment and income earning opportunities. Fake marriages are the second leading means of trafficking. (“Trafficking in Girls with Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment”; ILO, Geneva, November 2001)

• Over 60% of the prostituted girls/women working in Kamatipura, the biggest red light district in Mumbai of where the majority of Nepalese are trafficked, are suspected to be HIV positive.
(“Sex Slaves”; Virago Press London, 2000)

I've been digging quotes lately... I found a beautiful Chinese Proverb. It is a little something for all of the frustrated activists (myself included!)

"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come."

Abolition and Restoration!!

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's me and a gun. And a man on my back. But I haven't seen Barbados so I must get out of this." - Tori Amos

I sang that song for all of the trafficked children because they do not have a voice. But when in safehomes, their songs of slavery and of new life are healing. If we do not build more safehomes, a child's freedom, care and safety will be impossible. Their voices will remain silent.

Abolition and Restoration.

Our hands and hearts are where the spirit works.
Surrender to its calls to break chains.

This is her life.
If you can even call it that...

To see this gives me so much hope, that I can't even put it into words. Feel free to click on the postcard.

I watched a documentary about the poverty in Nicaragua. One woman named Pilar is a mother of two girls and also has Ovarian Cancer. Without the help of the non-profit group who shot the film giving her money, she cannot afford any medication. She is very sad in the film. When Pilar is interviewed, she weeps because she is so poor and she knows that when she dies, her daughters will get trafficked into prostitution.
But here's the happy ending (well, it's not perfect) the group visits Pilar about every year. They will give money to Pilar's children when Pilar has passed. And, it will be enough money to make sure they will not be lured by traffickers who tell them about a job that will give them a lot of money.
Many people who live in poverty and need money would go with the person who offers them that "great job." But unfortunately, taking the offer becomes their descent into slavery.

JFCI is doing some major outreach for the girls that started yesterday. I don't think it would be wise to give details just because everyone's privacy needs to be respected in this case, but what they are doing is very amazing, I assure you.
Please keep the staff and the children they help in your prayers.
Child sex trafficking will be abolished someday. JFCI and all its partners show me that by their passion and strength every day.

Big news! GQ magazine is celebrating their 50th anniversary with something called The Gentlemen's Fund. Five charities were picked to receive publicity through the fund, only five. Justice for Children International is one of the five!!!
JFCI has never been advertised in a magazine before. And since GQ is a Conde Nast magazine, all the other Conde Nast magazines like Vogue will see the advertisement for JFCI in The Gentlemen's Fund!
This is a huge step to let the public know that child sex trafficking and exploitation is a major problem. I knew about this last month, but wasn't sure when to post but now it's definitely official. A person on JFCI's staff told me that when people heard about the partnership with The Gentlemen's Fund, the phones wouldn't stop ringing!

www.thegentlemensfund.com

I've just created a new blog! The link is in my profile. There's only one post up now, but there will be many more I am sure.

I've been reading this book by Gary Haugen entitled, Terrify no More. It is a novel that documents International Justice Mission's raids in Svay Pak, Cambodia. IJM's team rescues 37 children who are trafficked and exploited, many of the children are under the age of 10. I highly recommend this book for all to get more insight about modern-day slavery. Abolition and Restoration.

"He washed me ashore, and he took my pearl. Then left an empty shell of me"
- Fiona Apple, Singer/Songwriter and a survivor of rape at age 12.

We cannot leave trafficked children empty. We have the power to empower. Child sex trafficking is something that needs to be talked about. If this epidemic is not brought to light by abolitionists, and we don't do something to stop it, then darkness and emptiness will remain. We have the power to empower.

Safe Girl

As I cross the water
My dress is getting soaked
And I take it off
Just to show you
I have the power
To baptize myself

Under the water
Under the sky
My pulse is God
And I hold the piece
You’ve been dying for

As I rise
I sparkle in the sunlight
And there is no
Question
As to why I writhed
And cried
It’s because
You were getting under my skin
And now I need you gone


"Breathe in God, breathe out thankfulness. Breathe in love, breathe out gratitude" - D.J.R.

Okay, here is my little advocacy post on rape and abuse : As you all know with child sex trafficking, children are raped and abused. I want child sex trafficking to end so badly because no one should ever be raped or abused for anything which in the case of trafficking includes money. There is no motive that justifies abuse and rape. If someone you know or yourself has been molested or raped SEEK JUSTICE! You are not dirty even though the feeling is constant. It's not your fault even though your brain tells you so.
Here are some resources for help:
911 - if it is an emergency
www.RAINN.org - Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network
www.stopitnow.org

These websites have hotlines where you can call a certified counsellor and talk. RAINN even directs you to your local sexual assault crisis center to make an appointment! If you are a friend of a victim, these sites tell you how to help your friend. Courage and love to you all!

Who loves Anderson Cooper? I do!! He did this fantastic 1 hour program on human trafficking. Here is part of the transcript that I think will be good for this new post:
"This is a special edition of 360, Invisible Chains: Sex, Work and Slavery.

It's one of the world's ugliest truths, a story so shameful, it is, frankly, unforgivable. Slavery, if you think it no longer exists, you are wrong. Right now, tonight, the United Nations estimates there are more than 12 million people around the world bound by invisible chains.

We're talking about women, children, men, who, for all intents and purposes, are modern-day slaves, many in their own country. Others are far from home. Every year, according to the U.S. State Department, as many as 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders. Eighty percent of them are women and girls. And most of them are forced to work as sex slaves.

Others are sold to work in fields and sweatshops, even in private homes here in America. We realize the numbers are huge. And they can be hard to absorb. So, tonight, we're going to try to put faces on the numbers and the misery behind them.

From Cambodia to California, Uganda to Atlanta, you will see and you will hear what it means to be a modern-day slave.

Here's one of the people you will meet, a young woman forced into slavery right here in America.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHANTIQUE WALLACE, FORMER SEX SLAVE VICTIM: They tied me down to a bed. They told me that, if I ever got home, they would kill me, and, if it didn't happen that next day, that it would soon happen." - CNN
Abolition and Restoration

Tattoos... why do I feel compelled to blog about it? Well, I'm not a huge piercing/tattoo person but I have this concrete idea that I will get a tattoo of a thread either on my second or third chakra. The thread is to remind me that I am or never will be an island but will always be a treasured soul amoungst treasured souls. So, weather I like it or not I have a connection to everybody, seriously, everyone.
Then that gives me more power to forgive and to love. Also, to never forget that there is injustice and because of this connection I cannot stand idle. But, go forth in this life with abolition and restoration. Love always to the children trafficked. You have my heart and tug on my thread to teach me that God deems no one dispensible. I love you all with my whole heart. I pray for your freedom and a dove to spread its wings in your soul.

Poem from the perspective of a trafficked girl
Chains bind the heart
Waiting
They make me be something I am not
When night falls
And the neon light reflects upon the walls

I am lost in the flesh of a man
I force myself to think of home
Near the sea
My mother and father honored
By flowers with a fire inside
Floating...

My eyes open
The man is gone
And the aching enters

*The president of International Justice Mission rescuing trafficked children from a brothel.

"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fenses, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope." - Maya Angelou

Have you ever felt worthless? Have you ever felt disconnected? Have you ever felt silenced? Have you ever felt objectified? Have you ever felt like you were dead? Has your body been abused? Has your soul been abused? Have you ever felt homesick? Have you ever felt depressed? Have you ever felt dominated? Have you ever felt alone?

That is how trafficked children feel every day.


Have you ever felt joy? Have you ever felt God? Have you ever felt love? Have you ever felt strength? Have you ever felt clean? Have you ever felt safe? Have you ever felt nourished? Have you ever felt calm? Have you ever felt laughter? Have you ever felt care? Have you ever felt saved?

That is how children who were trafficked and now in safehomes feel every day.